Скачать или смотреть Oscar Wilde’s Library Card Returned After 130 Years

Oscar Wilde’s British Library card has been reissued.
It was cancelled 130 years ago because he was convicted for being gay.
At that time, it was a crime in Britain.

Wilde was banned from the library in 1895.
He was in prison then, serving a two-year sentence.
His name was written in the library record as “Mr O. Wilde excluded from the reading room.”

Now, the library has given him a new card as a sign of respect and forgiveness.
The card will be collected by his grandson, Merlin Holland.
The expiry date on the new card is 30 November 1900 — the day Wilde died.

The British Library said it wants to honour Wilde’s memory and admit that he suffered injustice.
Wilde was one of the most famous writers of the 19th century.
He wrote The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband, and De Profundis.